Jazz advance to Western finals, end Warriors' playoff run

Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Boozer both notched double-doubles
to help the Jazz advance to the Western Conference finals with a
100-87 triumph over the Warriors.

Derek Fisher scored 20 points and Mehmet Okur also registered a
double-double for Utah, which remained undefeated in six home
games in the playoffs.

"I don't think anyone knew, including ourselves, how good our
team could be and we got off to that start at the beginning of
the season and we really started to believe that we could be
good," Fisher said.

The Jazz will face the winner between second-seeded Phoenix and
third-seeded San Antonio in the Western Conference finals.

Kirilenko had a playoff career highs with 21 points and 15
rebounds and Boozer chipped in 21 and 14 as Utah outrebounded
Golden State, 59-35, and owned a 20-6 edge on the offensive
glass.

"Yes, (rebounding) is a big factor," Kirilenko said. "Golden
State has small lineup and for us, we can't start playing their
open game. We need execution, we need to deliver the ball to
our big guys, and we need to stay on the ball."

"We did an amazing job on the board. I think because we go on
the board, we put ourself on the free-throw line. They can't do
anything with that. They don't have size."

The Jazz are headed to the conference finals for the first time
since consecutive trips in 1997 and 1998, which resulted in
back-to-back NBA Finals appearances.

"I just really believe in this team, and we're showing it right
now," Utah forward Matt Harpring said.

Baron Davis had 21 points, eight assists and six steals for
Golden State, which become the first eighth seed in league
history to win a seven-game series over the top seed, defeating
the Dallas Mavericks in six games. Dallas won an NBA-best 67
games.

"No need for us to be bitter, we had a great year," Warriors
swingman Stephen Jackson said. "A lot of y'all said we wouldn't
be here right now, we are here. We had a great year,
everybody's still upbeat. Everybody's happy with the way our
season went and at the same time we give credit to Utah, because
they played a great game."

Warriors coach Don Nelson laughed when asked what his club needs
to get over the hump.

"The hump was not making the playoffs for the last 12 years, are
you kidding me?" Nelson said. "I don't know what over the hump
is. If we didn't get over the hump this year, something's
wrong."

In the fourth quarter, Kirilenko's tip-in broke an 83-83 tie and
Fisher nailed a 3-pointer to help the Jazz grab a five-point
lead at the 5:45 mark.

"That's how you win the game," Kirilenko said. "If you're going
to hustle, compete for every ball, you show your openness every
time, 'I'm going to challenge you, I'm going to challenge you.'
For us, that was the game."

"That's how close-out games should be," Boozer said. "That's
how the playoffs are supposed to be. They don't let you play.
They don't let you earn it. And we earned it."

Golden State swingman Jason Richardson connected on a 17-foot
jumper to close the deficit to 88-87 with 3:39 remaining.

But the Warriors would get not closer as the Jazz finished the
contest on an impressive 12-0 surge, making 10-of-11 free during
that stretch.

"They shot layups, we shot jumpers," Davis said. "They got to
the foul line, we didn't. They got offensive rebounds. Same
thing that happened in Game Four, Game One and Game Two, things
that came back to haunt us. We were right there, we had an
opportunity to win this ballgame and take it back to Oakland."

Late in the third quarter, the Warriors once again came apart as
Jackson laid a hard foul on Utah rookie Dee Brown at midcourt.
As a result, Jackson received a flagrant and a technical foul.

Brown was making his return after sitting two straight games due
to a sore neck sustained in Game One, when Okur fell on top of
him.

To make matters worst for Golden State, at the end of the period
reserve Matt Barnes also picked up a technical for pushing
Boozer after the buzzer.

"We were in it, we were down two (points) with two and a half
minutes to go," Davis said. "Controversial calls went on that
some of the guys didn't feel were the best calls but at the same
time you still have to respond. I don't think that we gave
up."

However, Utah could not capitalize as it missed four straight
free throws to carry a slim 77-73 advantage into the decisive
quarter.

Jackson scored 16 points and Barnes added 14 as Golden State
shot 36 percent (28-of-77) from the field and was outscored,
23-14, in the fourth quarter.